Gareth Bale believes Tottenham Hotspur will be able to make a challenge for the Premier League title under their new manager, André Villas-Boas. Spurs were in contention with Manchester City and Manchester United until February last season, before a 5-2 defeat at Arsenal began a dreadful run of form which saw them miss out on even a Champions League place.

"It's obviously going to be very tough but halfway through last season we were challenging for the title," the winger said. "Our plan is to be up there again and continue the form from the first half of the season to the second half, and we'll be right up there. We've made a couple of new signings who've fitted in nicely, we've got a very ambitious club and manager."

Hundreds of fans turned up to watch Spurs train at the Home Depot Center on Sunday ahead of their friendly against LA Galaxy on Tuesday night. The match will reunite Robbie Keane with his former Spurs team-mates, but David Beckham's participation is uncertain.

A decision on whether the former England captain will feature against Spurs was due to be made on Monday. He is set to play for MLS All-Stars against Chelsea in Philadelphia on Wednesday.